Moving on
by Lonersoforlorn
Summary: Audrey is moving on.
1. Chapter 1

It's hard getting over someone you thought was your happily ever after. It's hard to watch a life you thought was set in stone crumble into dust and brought to life by another. It's even harder to create a new story when you still feel so stuck in the middle of another but Audrey is getting there. She's sure she is.

Audrey holds onto a little wrapped gift box, a gift meant more for the groom, Ben than for the bride Mal. She tried to pick something that they both would like but the years of knowing Ben tipped the gift scale in his favor. It's nothing fancy. It's actually quite simple for the princess who preferred everything to be extravagant but Audrey knows that he'll like it. Well, she hopes he does.

Audrey and Ben were childhood friends. They used to play together with their two other friends, Chad Charming, Audrey's now on-again/off-again boyfriend and Lonnie Li who Audrey had felt abandoned her to join Mal's friend group. Back then they all were inseparable at least that's what Audrey always thought.

She remembers all of the games that they used to play. Audrey's personal favorite was the game where she and Ben pretended they were King and Queen. She thinks back fondly on when Ben shyly placed her tiara back on her head and called her his queen. They were going to be forever. They were—

Audrey shakes her thoughts away. This is the exact type of thinking that lead her down that awful path. A path she wishes she could forget she ever journeyed on. Audrey's learned her lesson and she will no longer live in her past. These past few weeks have taught Audrey that sometimes the best thing to do is to move on and let the past go.

Even though her heart was torn, a mere thread on a spindle, Audrey will move on. Audrey will let go.

Audrey places her small wrapped gift box on the table. It's light pink and blue wrapping makes it the least notable gift on the table. The most notable was wrapped up in a pirate's flag with the gift it's holding peeking through the sides.

It's a-well, Audrey's not sure. It looks a lot like a clear plastic box with holes poked in for airflow. The ones that were usually used for housing small living animals. Audrey places her hand over her mouth. Is something living inside of it?

Audrey tells herself to leave. To go find her seat by her Grammy and just make it through the wedding. Clap when she's supposed to clap. Awe when she's supposed to awe. And smile through all of it and ignore any awful feelings stirring up inside.

Audrey starts to leave but then she hears a deep throaty croak coming out from the pirate flagged wrapped gift. A frog? No, that wasn't a frog. It croaked and didn't ribbit at all which means...

A toad? Someone gifted Mal and Ben a toad? Audrey scrunches up her face. She was trying really hard not to be judgemental but a toad is just not a wedding gift someone gives.

_It's trapped all alone in that case_, a voice in her head says. Audrey frowns, she knew what it was like to feel trapped. To feel alone. She suddenly feels a sense of unity with the toad.

A sense that's so strong that she starts unwrapping the pirate's flag that holds the toad captive. She ends up struggling. The knot that the pirate's flag is tied into is so elaborate that Audrey's fingers get stuck while untangling it.

Uma finds her in this exact position minutes later. Audrey tried to pretend like her hand isn't stuck by taking her free hand and stroking her hair. She whistles a happy song, hoping Uma doesn't approach her.

Uma isn't fooled by Audrey's act. Uma walks closer to Audrey and almost immediately spots Audrey's entangled fingers that are caught in the knot in the pirate's flag.

Audrey didn't like how Uma was staring at her. It made her feel like she was being featured in an exhibit, so in response, Audrey places her free hand on her hip and puts on an expression that shows she has no shame.

"You left a poor defenseless toad wrapped up in a pirate's flag." Audrey scolds, her voice reminding her too much of her grammy. She shifts a little uncomfortable at the realization but tries hard to not let it show on her face. "Shame on you."

Audrey lifts up her chin but her eyes linger on Uma waiting for her reaction. A laugh catches in Uma's throat. Uma almost chokes on it but ends up pushing it down. Within a couple of seconds, Uma's laughing again but not even bothering to hide the fact that she finds Audrey's current predicament hilarious.

Uma raises a hand, shaking her head to try to stop herself from laughing. Tears are actually sprouting from her eyes because she laughing so hard.

Audrey purses her lips and hmphs a little offended. Uma finally stops laughing, wipes the tears from her eyes and looks at Audrey with a serious expression. A serious expression that falters into a grin.

"It's not funny." Audrey chastises, pouting.

"Of course it isn't," Uma says forcing her lips together to hold down another laugh. When she's sure her laughter is gone she asks Audrey a question. "So what exactly are you doing?"

"Freeing, the poor defenseless toad that you carelessly left here."

"Hey, that's my wedding gift for Mal. It took me forever to catch him!" Uma says slightly offended herself now. "And the toad is fine I checked on him just before I let Harry wrap him up."

"Which was?" Audrey asks.

"Twenty minutes ago. The wedding starts in ten minutes, so I just came here to check on him."

"The wedding's starting already?" Audrey whispers, feeling like she's just awoken from a hundred-year sleeping curse.

How long did it take for her to finally put that small gift box down? To finally let go?

"Yeah, and I don't want to ruffle your feathers but there's a lot of interesting gossip about you out there."

"What are they saying?" Audrey asks, trying to move closer to Uma but the gift rises off the table, so Audrey stills herself.

"You don't need to know what they're saying," Uma says sympathetically, her expression shows she regrets uttering her earlier words.

"I must be the laughingstock. Who shows up at her ex-boyfriend's wedding? Who shows up to a wedding after cursing an entire kingdom?"

Regret flows through Audrey like water from a waterfall falling on top of her head. How can she even look at herself in the mirror after everything she's done?

"It wasn't that bad," Uma states, trying to comfort the girl she barely knew. Audrey shoots Uma a look that causes Uma to admit the truth. "It was that bad but everyone forgives you. Everyone understands."

A tear trickles from Audrey's eye at hearing that. She shakes her head, her entangled fingers start to feel numb. "No, they don't. Most people don't even believe I did it. And the ones that do…"

Sneers. Hidden laughs. Rejection. Things that Audrey had become accustomed to ever since Ben and Mal became the new it couple of Auradon. She should have gotten used to it by now but back then her only solace was that she was good.

A good person. A good granddaughter. A good princess. Audrey couldn't claim any of these things any longer. She had done something evil. She had let a devil sit on her shoulder and whisper in her ear. And worst of all she had listened to that goading voice. Listened to the siren-like call of Maleficent's scepter. She wasn't even strong enough to resist it!

Audrey had been bad. She had been an evil sorceress who had let wickedness and hatred take over her heart. She had tried to hurt people. She had cursed a whole kingdom! Audrey had—Audrey sobs, a heavy sob, her body shakes with her anguish as her mind replays all the evil things that she did.

Uma places a comforting hand on Audrey's shoulder. It almost puts Audrey at ease but shame puts its claim on her and she lets herself bask in its scorching light.

"That wasn't you," Uma says, softly. Uma didn't really know her, so her words didn't hold any meaning. Didn't hold any power.

Part of Audrey wants to let out a bitter laugh because Audrey doesn't even know who she is anymore.

"Magic has a way of influencing your mind and it takes a lot of self-control to resist it." Uma continues.

Self-control? All Audrey has is her self-control. When Ben dumped her in front of everyone, Audrey didn't cry at all. She hid how much it affected her and waited until she was alone in her dorm room. There she finally let her hurt feelings have control of her. She sobbed for hours and her tears had practically created a lake by the time they ran dry.

Later on, when her fairy godmothers/aunts Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna visited her they propositioned her with a short break that Audrey didn't take them up on. Not until Mal had officially become Auradon's darling did she accept their offer. It felt as if all of Auradon was always talking about how great Mal was and how she was always meant to be their queen.

As if Audrey never existed. As if Audrey didn't date Ben for years. As if Audrey didn't prepare her whole life to be the queen of Auradon. No one had ever said that about Audrey when she dated Ben. Audrey was furious. Audrey was hurt. And everywhere she went there always seemed to be pictures of Mal and Ben.

No matter how hard Audrey tried she couldn't avoid seeing them. She couldn't avoid hearing everyone gush about their love. A love that began with a love potion. And everyone acted like it was no big deal! And—

Audrey has lost her self control. She feels that empty part of herself when she listens to herself sob. She hears it when she tries to focus on happy positive thoughts only for it to parley with her negative ones and leave her aching in agony. She feels it, even more, when she realizes the knot on the wrapped up pirate's flag is feeling tight on her trapped fingers.

Audrey wipes her tears and struggles to regain her composure. To regain her self-control. She points to her fingers and mumbles to Uma about how much it hurts. Uma peers down and takes a look. She says Audrey's finger is turning a little blue with a panicked expression.

Uma suddenly bolts out of the room. Audrey feels panic at the thought of being alone and calls out for Uma. Audrey tries to pull her entangled fingers out of the knot it's stuck in but it only ends with her feeling helpless. Audrey thinks about her mom, touching the spindle of a spinning wheel that was set to curse her kingdom to sleep for a hundred years.

Did her mom feel guilty for not being able to resist the curse placed upon her? Audrey didn't have that right. She knew what she was doing when she had cast those spells on those unsuspecting Auradon citizens. She had wanted to hurt everyone because she wanted revenge! She wanted everyone to feel the anger they ignored was stirring up inside of her. The anger she tried so hard to control.

Control. She thinks of her horse, Firefly. She thinks of holding his reins in her hands. Thinks of the wind flowing in her hair. She thinks of stopping Firefly in front of the beautiful scenery of the woods. Scenery her mom would always point out to Audrey and her dad whenever they went on their family horseriding trips. Nature felt like another home to Audrey because of the joys it always brought her.

When Audrey was little her mom would sneak her out into the forest after they had royal training with grammy and there they would dance with each other in the woods. Her mother had always sung an enchanting tune about finding love once upon a dream. Animals would always approach them and join in on her mother's song.

That song had also been Audrey's lullaby when she was a baby and to this day could always lull her into a deep sleep. Audrey wished she could go back and relive that moment forever.

She wanted to go back to being the little girl who danced in the forest and lived in her dreams.

The little girl who always knew that one day she'd be Ben's queen but still kept a part of her heart hidden in the forest. A part of her heart that she must always keep under lock and key so that Grammy's expectations never found it.

Audrey couldn't think about this. Couldn't dwell on that past. Her grammy might have forgiven her for everything but she knew that she still had to live up to her expectations.

Audrey needs to get control of herself. Needs to stop following the thread that leads her to the scepter and lead her astray. Audrey thinks of things that bring her joy. Like the songs that birds sing. Like the neigh of her horse. Like the feel of her family's arms wrapped around her.

Audrey is in control. She closes her eyes and breathes, a long breath. Two sets of hurrying footsteps enter the room and Audrey finds a hand touching hers as it tries to undo the knot she's caught in.

Their hands feel familiar like she danced with them before. Not, once upon a dream, like her parents did but in actual reality. She opens her eyes and finds herself unsurprised to see Harry Hook, a boy who crossed her thoughts a couple of times this week.

Harry's whole concentration is on the knot that's entangled with Audrey's fingers. Uma is on the side of Harry, her arm slouched on his shoulder as she watches Harry work. They look so comfortable with each other almost like—oh!

Well, that explains why Harry rejected her offer to go out on a date after their dance. She had thought his rejection meant he was just a flirt but seeing at how at ease he was with Uma the truth reveals itself to her.

Harry's in love with Uma. And Uma doesn't know. Audrey is a hopeless romantic so she finds herself imagining them finally realizing their feelings for one another. She gets so in her head, she ends up almost falling backward as she accidentally starts to squeal at her thoughts.

Audrey regains her stance and apologizes to Harry who tells her it's alright. Meanwhile, Uma looks over at Audrey with an expression full of concern and pats Harry's shoulder to tell him to work faster.

Audrey couldn't believe that Uma seems to actually care for her wellbeing. Regardless of the fact that Audrey wasn't in line for the throne and had no royal status. Regardless of the fact that she and Audrey barely knew one another. Regardless of the fact, Audrey had tried to cause harm to all of Auradon.

Audrey's hand is finally free and she immediately brings it close to her. With her free hand, she starts rubbing the previously entangled fingers to bring back some circulation.

"Thank you," Audrey says taking notice of her rescuer, Harry Hook. The boy she danced within reality. The boy she asked out but obviously liked someone else.

Harry nods his head and gives her a flirtatious wink. "Anytime, I love rescuing beau-"

"You love what now?" Uma interrupts. There's a slight hint of jealousy in her voice that Harry catches onto.

Harry turns to Uma with a smug smile on his face. "Finally, ready for that kiss now, darling?"

"Never," Uma answers sweetly. Harry frowns at her answer. Harry and Uma then have a standoff.

Uma keeps her expression neutral and Harry just stares at her pouting as if that was an effective method to finally getting his way. Uma's wedding gift to Ben and Mal croaks, making Audrey remember why her fingers got entangled in the first place.

"Release, the toad," Audrey demands. Uma tilts her head away from Harry and eyes Audrey with a disbelieving look. Audrey glances over to see the tank is uncovered and somehow, someway Audrey feels an instant connection with this trapped toad.

"It's Mal's wedding gift. I mean, what do you expect me to do? Hold it?"

Audrey gasps and then nods. She tells Uma that's exactly what she should do. Uma nods repeatedly and then starts angrily walking towards Audrey. Harry blocks Uma from approaching Audrey. He grabs Uma's arm, slides his hand down it and intertwines their fingers. Then he twirls her in the opposite direction then whispers something in Uma's ear.

Uma responds with a grunt. Harry turns back towards Audrey with a charming smile.

"We talked it over and we really think the toad is happy where he is."

Audrey frowns and gives the toad's tank a worried glance. "No, he wants to be free and live in the woods. Where he can hop with his toad friends."

"I feel like you're not talking about the toad…" Harry states awkwardly.

Audrey shakes her head, vehemently denying it. "Yes, I am. Don't you see how lonely he is in that tank?! How stifling it is? Why can't you guys just let him hop and be free?"

Harry starts to say something but Uma silences him, walking in front of him. With a sense of hesitation, Uma walks over to the tank that holds the toad. She picks up the tank and hands it to Audrey.

"Go find some freshwater pond for him to live in." Uma than turns to Harry and motions for him to come with her. "Come on, we've got to find Mal and Ben a new wedding gift."

"I told you we should've given them my gift idea."

"Harry, your phone number in case one of them ditch the other at the altar is not a good wedding gift," Uma grumbles.

"What is the point of having those fancy new Auradon phones then?" Harry reasons.

Uma rolls her eyes, walking out of the room. Harry calls after her and then leaves the rooms too.

Audrey starts thinking of where she's going to place the toad. She knows there's a nearby forest here and it should have a pond somewhere. After Audrey formulates a plan she walks out of the room into an empty hallway. There is no sign of Harry or Uma.

Audrey decides to peek in the wedding hall. She spots Ben standing at the altar, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket. Ben has three groomsmen standing by his side. Chad whose holding a selfie stick and taking selfies. Audrey cracks a little smile because she knows exactly who he's going to send all those selfies too. Carlos stands next to Chad holding his dog Dude. Dude is dressed in a matching tux with Carlos and wearing a belt that places a pillow upon his back.

Audrey couldn't believe they were making the dog their ring bearer. If it were-no she wasn't going to think like that. She's moving on. She's finally letting Ben go.

Jay is mouthing words to someone in the crowd. Audrey's too far away to even try to read his lips. But she does notice that one of Uma's crew members, Gil is holding up his hand and making a thumbs-up sign.

Audrey grips the door handle. This is really happening. Mal and Ben are really getting married today. The toad she's holding croaks bringing eyes to the cracked open door. Audrey quickly closes it, hiding away. Hiding her pain away.

Her heart gallops over hedges and she can't calm herself. She rushes out of the building where the wedding ceremony is being held. She runs. Runs. Runs.

She stops with a sharp breath and finds herself at the edge of a forest. She walks in.

Audrey can hear birds singing in the trees. She can smell the minty freshness of the forest as she listens to the branches of trees rustle. She can feel the tank against her fingers. The numbness in her once entangled fingers is now gone.

Audrey walks deeper into the forest. She walks until miraculously, she manages to find a freshwater pond. She crouches down, speaks a passionate farewell to her toad friend, and then she opens the tank. The toad jumps out and is finally free.

No more tank to contain him. No more expectations for him to fulfill. No more reminders of a life he was supposed to have.

Oh, Harry was right this wasn't really about the toad for Audrey this was actually about her.

Audrey closes the tank, feeling angry because she thought she was fine. She thought that she could handle this. That she could move on.

Audrey watches as the toad she released earlier hops under a large leaf and rests. The toad has moved on. Forgotten all about the tank it was just trapped in.

Okay, so Audrey realizes that none of that makes sense but somehow it inspires hope. Hope that told her she could do this. She could create a new happily ever after for herself. She could live out a new story. One that isn't written for her and has predetermined paths. One that she's created all on her own.

How could she start? Audrey thinks of how Uma showed genuine concern for her. Could they be friends? Could she make new friends?

Friendships were always so easy for Audrey growing up. Everyone would flock to her vying for her friendship and Audrey loved every second of it. But Audrey knows now they didn't actually want her friendship. All they wanted was the benefits that came with her future status.

Could anyone like Audrey for her? But at this very moment, Audrey has no idea who she is.

Audrey thinks about herself. Something she admittedly does often but this time is different than all of the others.

Audrey loves the color pink. The same color of pink on the outfits her Grammy always wears. Grammy who she loved more than anything. Grammy who she wishes she could make proud but all of Grammy's expectations leaves Audrey's head spinning like a spinning wheel because there's no way Audrey can ever fulfill them.

Audrey loves the color blue. The same color of blue that Audrey's mom always wears in a mixture of her signature color of pink. Audrey loves and adores her mom whom she's inherited so many aspects of herself from but not enough for Audrey to have the ability to fill her mom's shoes.

Audrey loves horses. She loves her horse, Firefly. She loves riding her horse with her family. Loves remembering all of the riding advice her dad gives her. She loves stopping to look at the scenery and indulging in the beauty of the world.

Audrey loves animals. She loves dancing with them in the forest and getting lost in the songs of the birds.

Audrey loves her family. She loves her Grammy who taught her everything there needs to know on how to be a princess. Her dad who had taught her how to ride a horse. Her mom who inputted in her a love for nature and animals. Both of her grandfathers who loved her more than anything. Her aunts/fairy godmothers who always protected her and tried to whisk her away from the hurt that ended up overwhelming her.

Audrey hears two voices calling out her name. She stands up and searches for the sources. She blinks in surprise when the sources are Chad Charming and Ben. They rush over to her when they see her and bring her into a group hug.

"What are you-" Audrey starts but she's cut off by Ben whose crying and telling her he's sorry.

"Mal and I should've postponed the wedding after everything-"

Audrey interrupts Ben. "No, you shouldn't have. Ben, I'm fine."

Audrey's voice is soft. She pulls away from Ben and Chad but keeps her gaze on Ben. "Ben, you were my best friend? Did you know that?"

Ben shakes his head shocked. Audrey finds herself filled with disappointment. How could he not know?

Audrey decides it's time to uncover the missing part of her heart. The heart she left hidden away in the forest. The toad croaks, an encouraging croak. It's all the encouragement she needs.

"I really loved you." Audrey confesses, she can feel tears brimming in her eyes."And I don't know if I'll ever love someone the way I loved you ever again."

Ben looks at the ground guiltily. "Audrey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could apologize to you forever for everything that I've done to you. For everything I made you feel."

"It's okay, Ben. I told you before I forgive both you and Mal. It's just everything is—dealing with what—" Audrey couldn't voice her thoughts in a coherent way. All of her thoughts are like a dragon's fire hitting a large shield.

She hears the birds sing, a familiar song about what happened once upon a dream. Audrey can't help but whistle along. She finds the part of her heart in the song. She finds the Audrey she's hidden away awaken and the Audrey who Grammy always tells her she needs to be falls fast asleep.

She takes a deep breath and reaches out for Ben's hand. Ben lets her take her hand in his. She lifts up his hand and lets it hover near her face.

"I'm going to move on from you." She says with shaky confidence. All of Audrey's self-control is gone because now her heart is back. It doesn't want anything hidden away, it wants to sit and relax on her wrist for everyone to see.

"I'm going to be so happy! And you're going to be happy too." Audrey continues and Ben apologizes yet again.

"I know," Audrey answers, quietly while dropping Ben's hand. Audrey then looks to Chad and positions her arm so that he can interlock his with hers. "Care to escort me to a wedding? As friends, of course."

Chad says a bunch of things that Audrey tunes out but he happily interlocks his arm with Audrey's. Audrey looks back over to Ben. "You've got a wedding to attend."

"I do," Ben answers with a smile. "You think I can join…"

Ben points to Audrey and Chad's interlocked arms. She says yes but instantly regrets it. Ben comes to her side and interlocks his arm with hers. Audrey's heart speeds up like Firefly when he's frightened by thunder.

Audrey muffles the sound of her beating heart with casual conversation. Chad does most of the talking while Ben listens to them both. It's exactly how it used to be, so much so that Audrey finds herself drifting away to their shared past. Audrey's heart that's beating wildly on her wrist stops before she sinks in too deep.

Audrey reminds herself that Ben isn't her happily ever after. That them having a shared past will no longer craft any of the paths in Audrey's life. Audrey is starring in a new story now and in that story, Audrey is moving on.

**A.N.** This started as an idea of Uma gifting Mal a toad as a wedding gift and everyone being like ok but why? But then I couldn't stop thinking about Audrey wanting to free the toad and projecting her actual feelings on it, so this was born. Thanks for reading!


	2. Comfort

Audrey has emptied out every photo frame in her bedroom, fully freeing herself of a past she's finally moving on from. A past that Audrey had spent far too long clinging onto because of how abruptly it had ended. A past that Audrey once tried to preserve by following the calls of her name.

Now, all of that is behind her, a broken down path that she had realized only lead her nowhere. Recently, Audrey has awoken, awoken a part of her that she had forgotten long ago in the forest. The forest that had never put any expectations on Audrey and had never assigned Audrey any place to be.

Audrey's Grammy had noticed the change in her granddaughter, a change that had left a questioning expression on her face as she seems to observe everything that Audrey does. Grammy's eyes would always linger on the empty frames in Audrey's room. They would always linger on Audrey as she entertained her new friend Uma and some of Uma's fellow wharf rats in the tea room. They would always linger when Audrey walked into the castle with grass stuck on her pink and blue dress, but no words were ever said.

Even though Audrey could see questions skating on her Grammy's lips, no questions were ever asked. However, Audrey waits for the inevitable, the inevitable fate of the version of herself that she had once hidden away, a fate that would lead for this version of her going back to sleep.

While Audrey waits, she tries to plan this new path before her. A path of her own creation that doesn't have any set destination. At first, Audrey had feared to venture out on her own but now Audrey finds herself anticipating the unknown.

Audrey now sits on her bed, writing out goals for her Senior Year at Auradon Prep in her brand new diary. For Audrey, this is a tradition, something she's done in every single diary that she's ever owned. Yet, this diary differs from any of the diaries Audrey's written before. Because for the first time ever, Audrey's goals aren't influenced by the risk of destroying her reputation or by her Grammy's suggestions on what a princess should and shouldn't do. No, these goals written down were all her own.

And every single one of those goals currently written down is crossed out by an Audrey drenched in guilt. Guilt that stems from memories started by a call. A call that Audrey can still hear the echo of. A call that Audrey wished she could forget.

Audrey closes up her diary and sets aside the pen she was writing with. She sits for a minute, frozen like a statue. _You had cursed the people of Auradon to become statues_, a voice in her head reminds.

Audrey flinches and springs herself off of her bed. Her diary falls to the floor but Audrey doesn't go to pick it up. She walks out of her bedroom. Walks until she sprints into a run. When Audrey becomes aware of her surroundings, her hands are on the door handles of the tea room. The tea room where Audrey's Grammy always is. The tea room where Audrey felt like she couldn't be anything but perfect.

Audrey pulls open the door and walks in. Her steps aren't graceful, her back isn't straightened. Audrey can feel her Grammy's eyes linger but as usual, no question is asked. Audrey silently sits by her Grammy's side and lays her head on her Grammy's shoulder. It takes a while but Audrey's eyes get heavy and she falls asleep.

Audrey wakes from her nap, her neck is stiff but still, Audrey feels nothing but comfort. Audrey's groggy mind starts drifting back to when she was young. Back then, Audrey couldn't even reach her Grammy's shoulder and would just lay her head on her Grammy's arm.

On the day, Audrey's remembering, she struggled to stay awake. The night before Audrey's mom had snuck out with Audrey into the forest after Grammy's mandatory princess training. They had danced for hours, danced until Audrey's feet were sore.

Audrey heard the sound of the door opening but she's too tired to turn and see who it is.

"You're late, Aurora and a Princess should never be late."

Audrey's mom, Aurora lets out an exasperated sigh. Audrey didn't have to look at her directly to know her mom had her grumpy face on; it's the face Audrey's mom always has when she interacts with Grammy. Audrey's mom hated it when Audrey's dad called her frustrated expression, "her grumpy face", but it always made Audrey laugh.

Keeping her eyes closed, Audrey suppressed a giggle.

"Another rule that a princess must follow that I'm sure a prince doesn't even have to think about."

"Aurora." Grammy scolded."Princesses don't question they just do."

"Briar Rose." Audrey's mom corrected under her breath. Audrey's mom then elevated her tone and her next group of words come out slow. Almost as if she didn't want to say them. Almost as if she wanted to bury her words in the forest right beside where Audrey had hidden her heart. Almost as if Audrey's mom had put the version of her that grammy wanted her to be asleep.

Or maybe it wasn't like that all. Maybe Audrey's mom had eased out her words like a sword being pulled from its sheath. A sword specifically made with the sharpest point to slay a dragon that stood between someone and a dream.

"Have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to be a princess? Maybe, I want to go back home with my aunts who raised me. Maybe, I should've never left the forest." Audrey's mom continues.

"You don't mean that," Grammy says, her voice is torn. As torn as a sleeping baby from her mother's arms. A baby that was cursed by an evil fairy who had a mom who would do anything to protect her. Including, sending her away.

Audrey could feel her Grammy's neck turning in the direction of where her mom stood. "Now, sit down, Aurora so we can begin your lesson."

"No, I'm tired of this Leah. I'm not meant to be a princess. I'm going home. I'm going back to the forest."

"Don't call me, Leah!" Grammy shouts and her shoulders go rigid. Audrey remembered her hands going to her ears. She remembered stirring and trying to force herself to wake up. She also remembered Grammy gently patting her on the head and her body easing up.

"I'm your mother, Aurora and this is your home." Grammy continued.

Audrey's mom's voice is a mix of hesitation and anger." I miss my old life. I miss Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather."

"You still see them every chance you get.." Grammy reminded as her voice started to become filled with desperation.

"I don't know you, Leah." Audrey's mom had stated. "You're still a stranger to me."

Audrey felt her Grammy recoil at her mother's words. Audrey felt like she was caught in thorns as she fully opens her eyes and stiffly turned in the direction of where her mother stood.

"Mommy," Audrey called, her voice also sounding as half asleep as she felt. Audrey then turned to her Grammy and wrapped her in a tight embrace. " I don't want to leave, Grammy."

"You won't have to," Grammy assured while patting Audrey's back.

"Don't you think that's my decision to make." Audrey's mom had said with anger that had echoed off the walls of the tearoom.

"You were already taken away from me. Please, don't take her away." Grammy begged."I-I've already lost you. I couldn't bear to lose, Audrey too."

"Don't make me leave, mommy!" Audrey cried.

Audrey's mom's face was stricken, she gave a sad nod and turned away from both Audrey and Grammy. Audrey got up from the couch she sat on and walked over to where her mom still stood. Audrey's sore feet caused her to stumble and she grabbed a hold of her mom's skirt to steady herself.

"Mommy, don't go," Audrey begged. "Stay with me and Grammy."

Audrey's mom slowly turned back towards Audrey with closed eyes. Audrey watched as her mom took a deep breath and then reached down and grabbed ahold of Audrey's hand.

She leaned down until she's face to face with Audrey.

"I'm sorry, Audrey but I'm so tired of pretending that this status and castle is my happy ending." Audrey's mom kissed Audrey's cheek and then walked out of the room, leaving Audrey with the one she had chosen.

Back then, Audrey hadn't realized that she had even made a choice. Now, Audrey struggles with the question of would she still make the same decision. Audrey's mom was always there for her no matter what but when it came to this castle when it came to Grammy Audrey was all alone.

A guard walks into the castle tea room with an announcement that a visitor is waiting in the horse stables for Audrey. Audrey's face is blank at first, a grimace on the edge of it. Most of the visitors she's been receiving lately were angry Auradon citizens. Auradon citizens that Audrey had cursed while under the spell of Maleficent's scepter. A spell that Audrey couldn't resist. A spell that's actions now echoes behind her everywhere she goes.

A faint chuckle plays in Audrey's mind. A faint chuckle that numbs every nerve in Audrey's body till she's frozen in fear. A faint chuckle that sounds similar to Audrey's own but there's something off about it. Something that reminded Audrey of the calls from the scepter.

Audrey feels the panic rise in her as she moves her head off of her Grammy's shoulder and straightens up her posture The angels on her shoulder sing a comforting tune to her. And Audrey starts to feel more like herself again. Yet, still like background noise, Audrey can hear the faint chuckle interwoven in the song that the angels on her shoulder are singing. It fits as if it belongs. As if it's apart of her.

Grammy places a comforting hand over Audrey's and it eases Audrey back into her usual perfect composure.

"Send them away," Grammy advises in a pleading tone. "Audrey, it's not good for you to have all that anger being spouted on you."

Audrey closes her eyes, she stays focused on the comfort of her Grammy's hand over hers. Audrey takes slow breaths and clears her mind. She then shakes her head at her Grammy's words.

"I need to, Grammy," Audrey states with a voice full of guilt. "Benny-Ben pardoned me but the people deserve their justice. If it means ranting at me in anger then so be it." Audrey says pulling her hand away from her Grammy's, pulling her hand away from the comfort she had given up everything for. The comfort that caused her to aspire to always be perfect, so that comfort would never go away.

Audrey stands up from the chair she was sitting in and turns to her guard with a grim expression. With a reluctant voice, Audrey informs the guard that she'll see the visitor.

As Audrey and the guard get closer to the stables, she prepares herself for the worst. Yet, even with her preparation, once Audrey sees her visitor she almost trips over her own feet.

Audrey expected a stranger. Or even a friend that she was never really close to. Audrey didn't expect to see Lonnie standing in front of Firefly's stall with an apple in her hand that's raised up to Firefly's mouth.

Firefly is chewing the apple in delight. Lonnie is smiling at Firefly, looking unaware that Audrey is near. Audrey backs up and readies herself to leave.

Yet, she doesn't. Instead, she stays, looking at Lonnie with a conflicted expression on her face. Lonnie was once one of Audrey's closest friends but she had chosen vill-people that she didn't even know over Audrey who has known Lonnie practically since birth.

Lonnie had left Audrey all alone and didn't even offer to take Audrey to get a break-up comfort ice cream cone as Chad Charming did. Lonnie's rejection had hurt Audrey deeply because Audrey knew that Lonnie didn't care about royal statuses. Audrey knew the rejection was more personal than that.

The angels on her shoulder are telling Audrey to give Lonnie a second chance. Reminding Audrey that if people can forgive her for what she did to Auradon then she can forgive Lonnie for abandoning her. They advise her to let go of the lingering anger towards Lonnie and move on from the past.

Audrey knows the angels on her shoulder are right. Yet, she still finds herself struggling with the decision.

Lonnie finally notices that Audrey's there and calls Audrey's name, leaving Audrey no choice but to walk forward.

As Audrey approaches she gives Lonnie a soft smile. A smile as soft as fresh grass brushing against your fingers. As soft as the color of pink Audrey is wearing now. As soft as the song Audrey's mom sings while she brushes Audrey's hair at Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's cottage.

"Hi." Lonnie starts, her voice lacking the usual confidence that she always carries around like her parents carry their swords. Like Lonnie carries her own when she's doing R.O.A.R. "I heard about what happened."

With a face covered in shame, Audrey looks to the ground. She gives Lonnie a sad nod of confirmation and Lonnie goes on.

"Was all that really you?" Lonnie wonders aloud, pulling the now finished apple away from Firefly.

Audrey bites down on her lip, a trickle of tears start sprouting up in her eyes. It always happens whenever anyone mentions what Audrey did.

"I don't know," Audrey admits, her voice comes out shaky as flashes of what she did play on in her mind. "I want to say that it wasn't and Uma even said that it wasn't really me but magic itself. She said magic depends heavily on self-control and that I was susceptible because I didn't have any at the moment."

"I heard a call, Lonnie. A call that I couldn't resist even though I felt the darkness drowning in it. A darkness that I could feel spreading inside of my heart." Audrey continues.

"How did any of this happen?" Lonnie asks, her voice breaking like a statue with a small dragon hidden inside. Like the statues of Auradon citizens that broke after Audrey was finally released from the scepter's grasp. "How could you ever feel any darkness in your heart, Audrey? Especially, after everything, our parents went through?"

Audrey felt guilt at the words Lonnie directed towards her. Yet, the devil on her shoulder reminds her of how Lonnie contributed to her feeling very imperfect emotions.

"Says the girl who befriended the daughter of someone who ruined my whole family's life!" Audrey quips, her anger wafting to the surface. Audrey takes a sharp breath but it does nothing to clear the smoke of her anger away.

Audrey hears that faint chuckle again but it doesn't leave her feeling numb. In fact, it fuels her anger till she's trapped in its pink fire. The devil on her shoulder is back and laughing with glee.

"Everyone left me!" Audrey shouts, her tone then turns accusatory. "Including you, Lonnie. You chose Ben over me! You chose Mal and her friends over me! You were my friend first!"

Lonnie takes a deep breath, she turns her head away from Audrey. "Audrey, I didn't think it would bother you."

"What?!" Audrey shouts out offended. "We've known each other since birth Lonnie. You were one of my closest friends."

"Was I, Audrey?" Lonnie asks as her shoulders slump. She gently strokes firefly's mane and he neighs in happiness. "For as long as I can remember we've always played whatever game you wanted to play. We've always done everything that you wanted to do. We've always gone wherever you wanted to go. Audrey, you weren't really a good friend to me."

Audrey blinks at Lonnie's words then recovers herself. "That's not true! You loved playing King, Queen, Knights, and Prince with Ben, Chad, and I."

"You mean the game where you and Ben pretended to get married and I was the knight who couldn't stand within ten feet of you cause my outfit clashed with yours."

"Hey, you're the one who wore magenta. And everyone knows purple should never be mixed with pink. Or exist for that matter."

"Are you still angry about Ben and Mal?" Lonnie wonders, asking the question out of nowhere.

"No," Audrey answers, shortly which by her answer seemed to imply that she indeed was still upset but she wasn't. "My family doesn't like purple for obvious reasons."

Audrey puts her fingers on her head and makes them look like horns sprouting.

"It's just, Audrey I thought you were fine with them being together. After the party at Ben's coronation, you seemed fine and accepting of the changes happening around you. And then well, I have no idea."

"Ben didn't even break up with me, Lonnie. He just randomly asked Mal out in front of all of Auradon Prep which wasn't his fault because he was under a love spell. Something a lot of people seem to forget which I'm totes over by the way." Audrey sighs." After Ben started developing real feelings for her he didn't even approach me and apologize for how things ended. Mal didn't either even after she had turned good."

Of course, Ben and Mal had apologized after they had realized how their actions had affected Audrey. Granted, it took Audrey cursing a whole entire kingdom for them to finally notice she had feelings. But Audrey knew most people didn't think she could feel anything at all. Audrey had lived her whole life under the guise of perfection.

Perfection that didn't hide the hurt that Audrey had felt whenever the only member of her family to show up on Audradon Prep's family day was her Grammy. Perfection that hid her tears but left her running to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's. Perfection that cracked like a glass case holding a crown being hit by a fireplace poker when Audrey couldn't handle everything in her life falling apart.

At this moment, Audrey doesn't want to be perfect. She doesn't want to be the Audrey who had asked Chad Charming to be her boyfriend in retaliation for Ben's confession to Mal. She wanted to be the Audrey that's awakened. The one that dances in the forest. The one that's imperfect. The one that told Ben she was moving on.

"Fine? I realized then that I misjudged Mal and her friends but Grammy said…" Audrey struggles to finish her sentence. To reveal what had caused the shift in her attitude towards Mal and her friends. "I was betraying the family legacy by accepting them. By thinking anything good can come from evil. And then Grammy started criticizing everything I did."

"I had to get away from everything. Away from Auradon Prep. Away from Mal and Ben. Away from Grammy."

The last part of Audrey's sentence is twinged with guilt. To Audrey, her Grammy was everything. Yet, because of her Grammy's expectations, Audrey wonders if she should've ever let the part of her she put to sleep so long ago awaken.

Sure, Audrey's now forging a new path. A new story. And Grammy still hasn't said a word or even asked Audrey a question about any of the changes Audrey has recently made. But Audrey knew that change was hard and difficult, especially for someone stuck in their ways for so long.

"That's the reason you left. Audrey, I didn't know…" Lonnie's voice trails off. "I thought maybe you left because Chad cheated on you which looking back on it doesn't make sense. I mean, you're the only girl on Chad's phone beside me and his mom that actually has a name. I think he might actually be in love with you."

Audrey shifts around feeling uncomfortable with Lonnie's words. "Chad and I are just friends and I don't see him that way."

"Well, Chad's a huge jerk and you can do way better." Lonnie smiles, a friendly smile at Audrey.

Audrey frowns."Chad's not a jerk."

Lonnie gives Audrey a look and Audrey decides to correct her words. "At least, not to me. He was the only one who stayed by my side and remembered that I had feelings. Unlike, my other friends.

Audrey throws some side-eye and Lonnie shakes her head.

"Audrey, our friendship was terrible. We were barely even really friends."

Audrey pouts not because she thinks Lonnie is wrong but because she knows Lonnie's words were true. Audrey thinks back to the day she scolded Uma at Mal and Ben's wedding and how her tone had reminded her so much of her Grammy's. Audrey thinks of the panic and insecurity that rose in her when Mal was giving the girls of Auradon Prep makeovers. Audrey even thinks about all the games she played with Ben, Chad, and Lonnie and realizes that she always left Lonnie out.

Before Audrey had become tempted by Maleficent's scepter, she had taken solace in her goodness. But looking back at it now, there were a lot of things that Audrey did that weren't good at all. Some might say her actions were even a little wicked.

"I'm sorry." Audrey's face twists up in shame. "You're right I wasn't a good friend to you, Lonnie. I should've included you more and not made fun of your awf-alternative choices of color in clothes."

Lonnie places, her hands over her chest and gives Audrey an expression that just says really?

"Okay, I guess they're not that bad. When I was evil I kind of rocked magenta so I guess I get the appeal."

Lonnie laughs. "You're forgiven, Audrey. I guess I'm sorry too for leaving you to deal with your break-up alone."

"It's okay, I got an amazing musical number out of it."

"What?" Lonnie says confused.

Audrey waves off Lonnie's question. "Eh, nothing. Want to race?"

Audrey gestures her chin to Firefly who neighed in delight at the attention.

"I didn't bring my horse and I have to head back because I have a practice in…" Lonnie digs her hand in her pocket and brings out her phone. She checks the time and groans. "now. But maybe next time?"

Audrey nods with excitement. "Oh yeah. Prepare for your defeat, I'm not Arendelle's R.O.A.R team!"

Lonnie's eyes brighten at Audrey's reference. "Does that mean you watch my games?"

Audrey shakes her head. "No, but my friend Uma does. She thinks you have major skills and even told me she was really impressed with your abilities when you battled her crew back on the Isle."

"Really?" Lonnie says surprised. "Well, tell her I said thank you. I was really impressed with her sword skills too despite the whole situation that was going down."

"I will," Audrey states with a smile.

Lonnie leaves to go to her team's R.O.A.R. practice and Audrey heads back towards her castle. Grammy is waiting for Audrey in the back entranceway. On her lips, Audrey can see another question skating around and yet again Grammy doesn't say a word. But this time, Audrey decides too.

'"Grammy, do you ever regret the things you've done?" Audrey asks with curiosity.

"Are you dwelling again on those things that monster's scepter caused you to do?" Grammy wonders."Because none of that was you, Audrey. None of it."

"No, Grammy, I'm not. It's just that visitor for me wasn't an angry Auradon citizen. It was Lonnie."

"Lonnie, that girl you used to hang out with who thought she didn't need a handsome man to be happy," Grammy says displeased. "She was such a bad influence on you. I'm so glad you stopped hanging out with her."

"I didn't, Lonnie stopped hanging out with me and we just reconciled. We're gonna be friends again."

"Are you?" Grammy says, her face neutral. "Well, I guess she's better than that charity case you've been hanging out with, Uma."

Audrey's expression falls, like a dragon slain by a handsome prince. A prince that fell for a girl who lived in a forest once upon a dream. Audrey bites down on her lower lip as she feels the version of herself who had danced in the forest start to be beckoned into a deep sleep. The version of herself that Grammy wants her to be, stirs awake, ready to once again take the place of the Audrey who danced in the forest.

"Uma is not a charity case, Grammy. She's my friend, she's someone who understands exactly what I went through. And Lonnie isn't a bad influence on me, she was right, I don't need a prince to be happy. I need to find the happiness I need all on my own."

The Audrey that Grammy wants her to be, goes into a deep slumber and then glows until only a rose is left behind. The Audrey that danced in the forest tries to pick up this rose but it pricks her finger, pricks it like a spindle that once cursed a girl from the forest to sleep. But Audrey doesn't fall asleep, she brings her finger to her mouth and starts humming to herself.

"Grammy, I can't be who you want me to be and you need to accept that or…" Audrey pauses. "or I'll have to leave.

"What are you saying, Audrey? Who put these types of thoughts in your head?" She demands.

"No one. This is all me, Grammy. I need you to know I'm not perfect." Something in Audrey aches at the declaration but something else inside of her is freed. Audrey imagines her hum turning into a song. Imagines her feet moving rhythmically to the beat of her own making. And she dances in the forest. Dances in the forest feeling absolutely free.

"And you shouldn't try to force me to be." Audrey continues.

"I don't force you to be anything but yourself, Audrey." Grammy chides."And I haven't said a word about your recently frivolous activities. Like emptying out precious memories, befriending pirates, or sneaking out to the forest to do what I assume is something very unprincesslike."

Audrey lets out a frustrated sigh. "Grammy, Ben and I are over! Uma and her wharf rats are my friends. And Grammy, sometimes I need a break from being a princess. From trying to be perfect."

"What you need is a nice prince, Audrey and I think-"

Audrey cuts her Grammy off with a scream. "I don't want to be with a prince! I want you to listen to me! I want you to let me be me without the restrictions of being a princess. Grammy, we don't even have a royal status anymore. We're just common people now and you need to accept that."

Grammy's hands tremble as she shakes her head in dismay. "No. No. No. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Audrey places her hands over her Grammy's trembling ones. "Grammy, you need to let go. You need to move on."

"I know," Her grammy says in a hushed whisper. "I pushed your mother away with all my restrictions. I lost so much time with her because I didn't want to send out an invitation to someone who thought purple and black was a fashionable combination. And I…"

Grammy's hands stop trembling and she wraps Audrey in a tight embrace. "I can't lose you, Audrey. Gods, I almost lost you because of that scepter…"

"Grammy…"

"I'm sorry, don't leave. I'll try to be better." Grammy begs, genuine desperation in her voice.

Audrey nods her head against her Grammy's shoulder and feels nothing but comfort.

**A.N**. Initially, this started as a Lonnie and Audrey one-shot epilogue with them rebuilding their friendship but I literally do not know what happened. Like when I was planning, I wrote this background scene to establish some canon of this fic with Aurora Rose having a strained relationship with Queen Leah and again no idea what happened. Anyway, thank you guys for all of the reviews/faves/follows of moving on! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it so much and happy that I did Audrey justice! Thank you for reading!


	3. Comfort Part 2

Firefly's gallops are all Audrey can hear; her ears are numb to her fast-paced heartbeat. Lonnie is far ahead, uncatchable; her hair spread out in the wind like a soaring phoenix's wings. Both of them are racing to the biggest tree in the Summerland's. They're close to their goal with only a ride near a vast lake standing between them and the tree.

A lake that neither of them can really see. As only hints of it are sprinkled throughout the rows of trees to her side. Trees with leaves that have turned as orange as an un-enchanted pumpkin waiting to turn into a beautiful glass carriage. Trees with leaves that are as vibrant red as a prince's cape. Trees with leaves that are as yellow as flowers adorned on the head of a girl who once thought that she would be queen.

Audrey is going to lose. Lonnie is just too far ahead. Yet, still, Audrey finds herself gently urging Firefly to pick up speed, hoping that there's still a way she can win. Audrey is so focused on winning. She doesn't notice Firefly's ears pinning back. So when Firefly's gallops pick up speed, she feels a thrill surge through her, instead of apprehension.

As she rides, Audrey could feel small branches hitting her shoulder. She tilts over in the opposite direction, so now the branches won't even touch her. But Audrey wasn't the only one going in opposite directions. Firefly turns into an open space between the small trees and gallops forward towards the lake.

The way to the lake is sloped downward, so Firefly and Audrey gain more speed than she expected. She almost loses her hold, but Firefly slows their pace, and Audrey manages to steady herself.

Even with her steadying herself, her breaths come out heavy and create an uneven rhythm that makes her stomach rise to her throat. She looks around with frantic eyes. Frantic eyes that seem to get blurrier by the second. Until everything in front of her is blurry. Until all, she could see were colors that came together as if they were messily mixed on an artist's palette.

"Firefly! That was so dangerous!" Audrey scolds, shutting her eyes. She tries to ease her breaths back to normal, but Firefly moves forward, making her lose her focus.

Audrey's eyes shoot open. The blur in her vision sharpens slightly, so she can now see that Firefly's head is lowered, meaning that Firefly was drinking from the lake. The lake that was full of tempting small waves that must've lured Firefly in.

Audrey's breathing returns to normal and seconds after her vision fully unblurs. She then takes in the full sight of the lake. It's quite a large lake that's a shade of blue that reminds Audrey of her Aunt Merryweather's dress. Throughout the lake, there are reflections of a thicket of trees with golden as a crown leaves. Yet, none of these trees is the tree Audrey is seeking.

Audrey looks behind her at the row of trees that she and Firefly had emerged from. There was no sight of Lonnie or Lonnie's horse, Khanum, but Audrey could hear faint gallops that indicated they were heading deeper into the forest.

"Firefly, don't you want to win?" Audrey questions. "You didn't forget that we're racing Lonnie and Khanum, did you?"

Firefly stays silent, so Audrey softly rubs Firefly's neck. She hopes her soothing gesture coerces Firefly back into the race. She waits, but Firefly doesn't respond and continues to take long sips from the lake.

"What's gotten into you?" Audrey continues in a concerned voice.

Audrey huffs and dismounts from Firefly. Her feet crunch on fallen leaves that the wind brought over from the nearby trees. She walks forward and stands near the edge of the lake where Firefly's head is lowered. Audrey takes note of his pinned back ears, which confirm what she already assumed. Firefly was angry. At her!

"Alright, I'm sorry that I pushed you to race," Audrey says, lowering herself to the ground. The leaves crinkle in protest, but Audrey sits upon them.

Audrey's focus on Firefly wavers as she notices that she can no longer hear the faint sound of Lonnie's horse Khanum's gallops meaning they were probably already at the set destination. Meaning Lonnie had won.

Something shifts on Audrey's shoulder, a devil whispering taunts in her ear. Taunts that cause Audrey's mind to plunge into despair. She lost. Again. Just like she had lost her position as Cheer Captain of the Auradon Prep cheer squad to Jane. Just as she had lost control over her thoughts to a scepter. A scepter that she had used to curse everyone in Auradon. A scepter whose calls had finally gone silent.

Yet, the devil on her shoulder still spoke, and as hard as she tried to dream it away, its claws seemed there to stay. Audrey didn't understand. Things were different now!

She had created a new path. She had started a new story. One without her longing for a crown. One without Ben. One with a version of herself that wasn't anything her Grammy thought a proper princess should be.

Though her footsteps were sometimes small, sometimes huge, and sometimes just a fall, Audrey was moving on. The devil on her shoulder, however, wasn't. It was stuck in place, unmoving.

It made Audrey think of her return back to her dorm, which she rarely spent time in when she was an active student of Auradon Prep. On her closet door, hung her cheerleading uniform that, when once worn by Audrey, had brought her adoration as the captain of the squad; however, now whenever she stared at the uniform, it only reminded her of everything she's lost. Audrey had never thought of it before; she had never contemplated the things she valued in life. It seemed the purpose of her mind depended entirely on her value in the eyes of others.

Audrey didn't come to this conclusion on her own. Without the help of Mama Odie, she would still be blind to her own sense of worth. She remembers the session, a solo session, unlike the usual joint ones she and her Grammy now do every two weeks.

In this session, Audrey chose to sit on Mama Odie's golden satin couch, dismissing the green plush armchair with yellow fleur de lis decals spattered on the wooden frame. While the green plush armchair was the obvious choice for this solo session, Audrey sought the comfort of the golden satin couch that was filled with memories of breakthroughs. She even placed one of the throw pillows on the couch cushion next to her to make her feel as if someone was sitting beside her.

Audrey needed comfort. She needed her Grammy's shoulder to lean on, but Mama Odie had disagreed. She had told Audrey that there were some things that she needed to face alone. Alone. Audrey didn't like to be alone.

She didn't even like the semblance of the feeling of loneliness. It was why she joined the Isle welcoming committee all those years ago, she could feel her ex-boyfriend's attention waning, so she tried everything she could to make sure she was still on his radar. He had never loved her. Not in the way she had loved him.

Audrey had known. She had always known, but she held onto him because of her fear of being alone. A fear that made itself known the day after her mother had left. She didn't know she had made a choice. She didn't know. She didn't know.

Mama Odie had called out to Audrey to get her attention, her big gold earrings clanging as she grabbed for her snake Juju, who she thought was lying by her side. Juju was nowhere near her. Instead, he was slithering under Audrey's propped up feet.

"Yes?" Audrey said, her voice wobbling as she watched Juju with wariness.

Audrey loved animals. All animals. Her mother had instilled that love in her when she was very young. But Juju was a bulky snake that in the wild constricted its enemies, so it was only natural for her to feel a little afraid. Or a lot afraid.

"What's got you so afraid?" Mama Odie asked.

Audrey knew that Mama Odie wasn't just going by the fearful tone of her voice brought on by the sight of Juju. Mama Odie seemed to know how to dig deep inside someone's psyche and find the very thing that ailed them. Except, Audrey didn't want to let herself dig deeper into the fears that had become a devil on her shoulder.

So she decided to inform her of the newfound fear that was occupying her mind.

"Your snake, Juju, is right under my feet, and well, he's terrifying," Audrey answered.

"Juju!" Mama Odie exclaimed, her face becoming filled with joy. She started making kissing noises to lure Juju back to her, and he turned in her direction to slide up her seat and back onto her shoulders.

"Oh, you bad boy! What did I tell you about bothering my patients during a session?" She then gave the snake an affectionate kiss on top of his scaly head.

She apologized to Audrey, who let out a huge breath of relief. Audrey watched as Juju's eyes closed as he nestled on Mama Odie's shoulders. Once Audrey was sure he was asleep, she slid closer to the edge of the couch that she was sitting on, placing her legs to the side as she let the sides of one of her shoes touch the floor. Now, she sat, looking like a model princess. All she had needed was a crown.

Audrey gulped, flushing the thought away.

"I think we should talk about your fear of being alone."

And just like that, the fear that Audrey didn't want to acknowledge was slid right in front of her like a steaming hot soup.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be surrounded by your family and subj-friends," Audrey answered, taking a sip of her fear and burning her tongue on it.

"Audrey, this is just an observation, but every time you feel alone, you find someone new to hold onto. Whether it be your friend Chad, your brief acquaintance Jay, or even that pirate boy, you said you flirted with."

"What does that have to do with wanting my Grammy in here with me?"

Mama Odie appears deep in thought as multiple expressions cross her face. Each one was a different ingredient in a recipe that Audrey couldn't decipher.

"It's all connected, and I think you see it too." Mama Odie said, her voice full of wisdom."In fact, I think if we dig just a little deeper, there's another connection to this."

"Another connection?"

"You've spent a lot of time in this session comparing yourself to others, Audrey. Your mother, most of all." Mama Odie observed. "So, I ask you, how do you see yourself?"

"Oh, that's easy." Audrey starts, then her mind draws up a blank. When she finally comes up with an answer, she trips over her words. "Well, Ben used to-Uh."

Audrey lets out a nervous giggle when she realized those words weren't hers.

" I guess I'm cheerful. You know, because I'm always smiling." Audrey said, trying to recover from her fumble." But Grammy said princesses are always supposed to smile. If we're unhappy, how will that reflect on our subjects?"

"Are you ever unhappy, Audrey?"

"Well, yeah. I was unhappy at Ben and Mal's wedding, which happened way too quickly, in my opinion. I mean, when Ben and I were pre-engaged to be engaged, Ben had told me that he wanted to get married after he finished his studies at Auradon University. He told me he wanted me to have time to adjust to being Queen. But I was raised to be a queen. His queen. I didn't need time."

"You know what's even worse. I found out they had a wedding special on tv and I watched it. In that special, the way they portrayed me…" Audrey hesitates before continuing. "sometimes I wonder if I would've been better off being exiled. But then I'd miss my family too much. But my family isn't even here. Grandpa Stefan and Grandpa Hubert are still on their trip around Auradon as ambassadors of the King. My parents are still off the grid living in the forests of Auroria with two of my fairy godmothers. And my other Fairy Godmother, Aunt Merryweather...well, I've been avoiding her at Auradon Prep."

"Why so?"

"It's hard having her look at me with such disappointment," Audrey admitted and then explained further. "I used her clearance to get into the museum where I stole Maleficent's scepter."

"So you haven't talked to her since before then?" Mama Odie asked, and Audrey answered with a nod. "Go talk to her. It might give you the next stone you need on your new path."

Before Audrey could refute Mama Odie's task, her session had come to an end. Mama Odie had pushed her out of the door and told her to always dig deeper.

As the week went on, Audrey had tried to dig deeper to muster the courage to face her Aunt Merryweather. In fact, Audrey was outside her classroom door earlier today, but Lonnie had called, and there just wasn't enough time to speak with her aunt.

Plus, Audrey hadn't visited the stables at Double Star Ranch in months, and she knew that-Oh! That was why her horse, Firefly, was so upset with her today. They were lonely.

Audrey turns to look at her horse, who was no longer taking sips from the lake. Firefly had moved to chew on the grass by Audrey's side."Oh, Firefly, I haven't been a good friend to you lately. I'm so sorry. I'll promise to visit you more."

Firefly lifted up their head and let out a stream of cheerful neighs. Audrey stands up, the leaves crunching under her once again. She moves toward Firefly and gently pets their neck.

"Let's stop by that apple farm on the outskirts of Auradon City. And I promise that I'll pick you the plumpest apple there." Audrey adds.

A few minutes later, Audrey hears the distant gallops of another horse. She looks in the direction of the sound and spots Lonnie riding her horse Khanum in the distance. Audrey raises her hand for Lonnie's attention, and soon Lonnie is in front of her.

Lonnie dismounts from Khanum and rushes over to Audrey.

"Are you okay? Is Firefly okay?" Lonnie asks, her voice frantic. As Audrey assures Lonnie that everything's fine, she hears Khanum trotting over to Firefly, and then the sound of both horses nickering at each other in greeting.

A concerned expression settles on Lonnie's face as Audrey's assurance falls flat. So Audrey then tells Lonnie about how Firefly felt neglected by her and had refused to race. Lonnie expresses sympathy for both Firefly and Audrey. Then with an apprehensive expression, Lonnie broaches the topic of Audrey's student life at Auradon Prep.

"So, are you living out your ideal Senior Year?" Lonnie wonders, her voice hopeful. But Audrey can tell from Lonnie's avoidant gaze that she knows exactly how Audrey's Senior Year is going.

Audrey could say nothing. She could let the silence between her and Lonnie grow. She can let it grow into a wall of briars with the sharpest thorns, but Audrey remembers what doing so had left her last.

She thinks back to the crossed out goals in her diary. They felt unreachable. They were unreachable—the sight of a light blue bow flash in Audrey's mind. The owner of the bow's sweet smile fills Audrey with resentment.

"You can always join us, Audrey," Jane said her smile like the moonlight that had just replaced the resting sun.

Audrey's expression tightens as she comes back to reality. Lonnie still waits for an answer, but her gaze is now locked on her horse, Khanum. Audrey turns, looking behind her and sees that Khanum is now taking sips from the lake. She also sees that Firefly is eating patches of grass near Khanum. Both horses look content and not ready to leave.

When Audrey turns back to Lonnie, Lonnie verbally takes note of that and suggests they both sit down. The leaves make a crunching sound with every step they take as Lonnie leads them to the perfect spot. One that isn't too far from their horses and not too close to the lake's edge.

They sit across from another as they've done so many times before. Except, this time, there's no background chatter of princes discussing swords. There's no scene of Audrey droning on about her planned wardrobe for the week. And Lonnie isn't leaning in the direction of where the two princes chatter, wishing she was a part of their conversation instead of pretending to listen to Audrey.

Both Lonnie and Audrey's attention is on each other. Once again, Audrey considers making Lonnie think that nothing was weighing on her mind, but Audrey wasn't going to let a thorny wall grow between them. Not again. She didn't want to forge a new path that looked exactly the same as the first, so she told Lonnie exactly what she was feeling.

"I'm not," Audrey confesses. "I don't even know what an ideal senior year should look like anymore."

"An ideal Senior Year is one that brings you happiness when you look back at it. It doesn't have expectations, and it's not always perfect."

Audrey scoffs as positive highlights of her past flash in her mind. "Every school year I've ever had before Mal and her VK's came was perfect."

Lonnie presses her lips, a frown sparring with a face of neutrality. "It may have been perfect for you, but it wasn't perfect for everyone else. Your perfect years were always at the expense of everyone around you."

"Remember when Ally's cupcake extravaganza fell on the same week as your dance recital?" Lonnie continues, trying to spark a memory of the event in Audrey's mind.

Audrey shook her head in response. She didn't remember anything about a cupcake extravaganza.

"Your Grammy had banned you from eating any cupcakes because she wanted you to fit into your costume. So you told everyone that Ally's cupcakes would cause them to become unfashionable giants that would be sent away to the isle for breaking every fashion rule in Auradon." Lonnie recounts. "And because of that our school made Ally cancel the whole thing. She was so crushed. Everyone was. We were all looking forward to it."

Shame crosses Audrey's face as flecks of memory flashed in her mind. She remembered feeling so satisfied with what she had done. She even remembered her Auradonna's audition, where Ally had instantly given her a spot in the group. At the time, Audrey had assumed it was her amazing talent that got her the spot, but it was most likely Ally's fear of her. It was apparent that even without her cursing the kingdom, there were a lot of wrongs in Audrey's past. Wrongs that she didn't just commit against her friends but most—okay, all of the students at Auradon Prep.

"I've made people feel as bad as I felt that day Ben broke up with me. As bad as I felt when Ben announced Mal as his queen. And I did this all without a scepter in my hand. Without a voice coercing me to." Audrey reflects, her voice full of guilt.

"Yeah, you have." Lonnie agrees, placing a hand over Audrey's. "But I've seen a different part of you. A new part of you. And that is the girl I want to be friends with, and I think other people will feel the same way."

Lonnie gives Audrey's hand a reassuring squeeze and pulls her hand away. She starts to get up, and once she is, she holds her hand out for Audrey to take hold.

"You won't be alone in this. I promise I'll stay by your side."

Audrey moves to grab Lonnie's hand but pulls her hand back.

"I've been mean to Jane." She confesses. "She's taken most of my club positions at Auradon Prep, and I haven't been taking it well."

"She told me."

Audrey lifts a brow in shock. "She did?"

"She's concerned about you," Lonnie explains. "She feels guilty about not checking up on you after your breakup with Ben and feels bad for taking the spots you left empty at Auradon Prep."

Audrey starts to correct Lonnie, starts to say that Ben technically didn't break up with her that she officially did to protect herself. But she doesn't. She focuses on rationalizing her feelings, something Mama Odie was always pushing.

For years, Jane had always followed after Audrey. She was a year younger than Audrey and always on the sidelines of every game Audrey and her friends had played. Well, only because Audrey had ordered her there, so when Jane had gotten a makeover from Mal and had gained confidence, it terrified Audrey.

With confidence, came beauty. And what if that beauty surpassed Audrey's? Audrey had wanted to be the prettiest, and looking back, Audrey was downright cruel to so many other girls to achieve it. In reflection, Jane had done nothing wrong. Audrey did, and it was finally time for her to move on from those negative emotions.

Audrey winces at her past actions. "Jane shouldn't feel bad. She did nothing wrong. I did."

Lonnie's mouth falls open, and she stutters out incoherent words.

"I should apologize to Jane. To all of Auradon Prep, really." Audrey declares, taking hold of Lonnie's hand. She silently thinks that she needs to face her Aunt Merryweather too, but her stomach spins around like a spinning wheel at the thought.

Lonnie pulls her up and brings her into a short hug then takes a step back.

"How about we finish our race?" Lonnie asks, and Audrey nods with enthusiasm.

They both walk over to their horses, and Lonnie mounts her horse, Khanum, with ease and experience. Audrey hesitates. She asks Firefly if they want to race, and Firefly lets out a gleeful neigh, indicating that all was forgiven. Feeling relieved, Audrey mounts her horse and waits for Lonnie to begin a countdown.

The countdown begins, and soon it is over. All Audrey can hear is the gallops of their horses. At first, she keeps pace with Lonnie, but soon Lonnie is ahead. Just like before. But this time around, Audrey feels no fear at the thought of losing. No devil is sitting on her shoulder, taunting her. Just acceptance and joy at the experience. The joy of being with her friend.

When Lonnie reaches the biggest tree in the Summerlands first, she cheers, and Khanum lets out a victorious neigh. Audrey congratulates Lonnie with a smile, a smile full of warmth that brings Audrey comfort from within herself.

A.N. Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews/faves/alerts! I really appreciate it! And a special thanks to my cousin, Aria for beta reading for me! Till next time everyone!


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